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Enchantress of Numbers
A Novel of Ada Lovelace
🎧Run Time = 20 hours and 2 minutes
The only legitimate child of Lord Byron, the most brilliant, revered, and scandalous of the Romantic poets, Ada was destined for fame long before her birth. Estranged from Ada’s father, who was infamously “mad, bad, and dangerous to know,” Ada’s mathematician mother is determined to save her only child from her perilous Byron heritage. Banishing fairy tales and make-believe from the nursery, Ada’s mother provides her daughter with a rigorous education grounded in mathematics and science. Any troubling spark of imagination—or worse yet, passion or poetry—is promptly extinguished. Or so her mother believes.
When Ada is introduced into London society as a highly eligible young heiress, she at last discovers the intellectual and social circles she has craved all her life. Little does she realize that her delightful new friendship with inventor Charles Babbage—brilliant, charming, and occasionally curmudgeonly—will shape her destiny.
Intrigued by the prototype of his first calculating machine, the Difference Engine, and enthralled by the plans for his even more advanced Analytical Engine, Ada resolves to help Babbage realize his extraordinary vision, unique in her understanding of how his invention could transform the world. All the while, she passionately studies mathematics—ignoring skeptics who consider it an unusual, even unhealthy pursuit for a woman—falls in love, discovers the shocking secrets behind her parents’ estrangement, and comes to terms with the unquenchable fire of her imagination.
Enchantress of Numbers unveils the passions, dreams, and insatiable thirst for knowledge of a largely unheralded pioneer in computing—a young woman who stepped out of her father’s shadow to achieve her own laurels and champion the new technology that would shape the future.
🎧Run Time = 20 hours and 2 minutes
In this “exquisite biographical novel” (Booklist), a New York Times bestselling author of Mrs. Lincoln’s Dressmaker and Switchboard Soldiers reimagines the fascinating life of Ada Byron King, Countess of Lovelace—Lord Byron’s daughter and the world’s first computer programmer. “Elegant in style, engaged in delivery, and riveting in content,” this Earphones Award winner “will entertain a wide array of listeners” (AudioFile).
The only legitimate child of Lord Byron, the most brilliant, revered, and scandalous of the Romantic poets, Ada was destined for fame long before her birth. Estranged from Ada’s father, who was infamously “mad, bad, and dangerous to know,” Ada’s mathematician mother is determined to save her only child from her perilous Byron heritage. Banishing fairy tales and make-believe from the nursery, Ada’s mother provides her daughter with a rigorous education grounded in mathematics and science. Any troubling spark of imagination—or worse yet, passion or poetry—is promptly extinguished. Or so her mother believes.
When Ada is introduced into London society as a highly eligible young heiress, she at last discovers the intellectual and social circles she has craved all her life. Little does she realize that her delightful new friendship with inventor Charles Babbage—brilliant, charming, and occasionally curmudgeonly—will shape her destiny.
Intrigued by the prototype of his first calculating machine, the Difference Engine, and enthralled by the plans for his even more advanced Analytical Engine, Ada resolves to help Babbage realize his extraordinary vision, unique in her understanding of how his invention could transform the world. All the while, she passionately studies mathematics—ignoring skeptics who consider it an unusual, even unhealthy pursuit for a woman—falls in love, discovers the shocking secrets behind her parents’ estrangement, and comes to terms with the unquenchable fire of her imagination.
Enchantress of Numbers unveils the passions, dreams, and insatiable thirst for knowledge of a largely unheralded pioneer in computing—a young woman who stepped out of her father’s shadow to achieve her own laurels and champion the new technology that would shape the future.
448 pages, Hardcover
First published December 5, 2017
1241 people are currently reading
9879 people want to read
About the author
Jennifer Chiaverini
78Â books5,241Â followersJennifer Chiaverini is the New York Times bestselling author of thirty-three novels, including acclaimed historical fiction and the beloved Elm Creek Quilts series. She has also written seven quilt pattern books inspired by her novels. A graduate of the University of Notre Dame and the University of Chicago, she lives with her husband and two sons in Madison, Wisconsin. About her historical fiction, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes, "In addition to simply being fascinating stories, these novels go a long way in capturing the texture of life for women, rich and poor, black and white, in those perilous years."
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 938 reviews
December 7, 2017
An overly long prologue to this book tells the story of the courtship and brief unhappy marriage of Lord Byron and his wife Annabella that resulted in the birth of one child, Augusta Ada later known as Ada Byron King, Countess of Lovelace. I had never heard of Ada, but some have credited her with being the first computer programmer. That is probably an overstatement. I was expecting more about the life of a scientist or a glimpse into her creative process but there is almost none of that in this book. Not until the end of the book do we see Ada actually performing any scientific work. The emphasis was definitely on her childhood and then on her duties as wife, mother and countess. We just have to take for granted the fact that she was a good mathematician. Since the author obviously has little interest in science, I had to look Ada up on Wikipedia to find out what she actually did.
After the prologue, the rest of the book is written in the form of a memoir by the 35 year old Ada. I have a problem with books told from the pov of a child who has total recall of all conversations and events that occurred when she was a toddler. Unfortunately, it was a pretty uninteresting childhood. Ada's parents separated in 1816 (due to Lord Byron's bad behavior which led to a very complicated family situation) when she was an infant and she never saw her father again. Nevertheless he was a strong presence in her life due to her mother's efforts to turn her against her father and his friends and family. Annabella was both an aloof and controlling mother although she was mostly absent due to her charity work and visits to various spas seeking a cure for ailments that appear to have been imaginary. Ada's interests in mathematics and science were encouraged, so long as they did not become excessive.
I wish that the book had begun at its half way point in 1833, when Ada met Mr. Charles Babbage who was a renowned mathematician and inventor. They became friends and she was fascinated by his inventions, the Difference Engine, a form of mechanical calculator, and the Analytical Engine, a very early computer, however he never managed to complete the building of either of these machines during his lifetime. It was Babbage who referred to Ada as the Enchantress of Numbers. Ada published her first scientific paper about the Analytical Engine and it was met with interest and acclaim until it was discovered that it had been written by a woman. "As soon as it became well known that the memoir had been written by a woman, it's perceived value as a scientific work precipitously declined. If a woman had written it, these men of science concluded, it could not be as important as they had first believed. The reasoning could not be as sound if it had come from the female mind, the subject not as significant if it had been been entrusted to feminine hands."
I really wish that there had been more emphasis on science and less on governesses, coming out parties and illegitimate relatives. I would also have preferred that the book be 150 pages shorter.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.
After the prologue, the rest of the book is written in the form of a memoir by the 35 year old Ada. I have a problem with books told from the pov of a child who has total recall of all conversations and events that occurred when she was a toddler. Unfortunately, it was a pretty uninteresting childhood. Ada's parents separated in 1816 (due to Lord Byron's bad behavior which led to a very complicated family situation) when she was an infant and she never saw her father again. Nevertheless he was a strong presence in her life due to her mother's efforts to turn her against her father and his friends and family. Annabella was both an aloof and controlling mother although she was mostly absent due to her charity work and visits to various spas seeking a cure for ailments that appear to have been imaginary. Ada's interests in mathematics and science were encouraged, so long as they did not become excessive.
I wish that the book had begun at its half way point in 1833, when Ada met Mr. Charles Babbage who was a renowned mathematician and inventor. They became friends and she was fascinated by his inventions, the Difference Engine, a form of mechanical calculator, and the Analytical Engine, a very early computer, however he never managed to complete the building of either of these machines during his lifetime. It was Babbage who referred to Ada as the Enchantress of Numbers. Ada published her first scientific paper about the Analytical Engine and it was met with interest and acclaim until it was discovered that it had been written by a woman. "As soon as it became well known that the memoir had been written by a woman, it's perceived value as a scientific work precipitously declined. If a woman had written it, these men of science concluded, it could not be as important as they had first believed. The reasoning could not be as sound if it had come from the female mind, the subject not as significant if it had been been entrusted to feminine hands."
I really wish that there had been more emphasis on science and less on governesses, coming out parties and illegitimate relatives. I would also have preferred that the book be 150 pages shorter.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.
January 8, 2023
This is a work of historical fiction starring Augusta Ada Lovelace, the scoundrel poet Lord Byron's only legitimate child who had a brilliant mathematical mind. The prologue of the book shows the (fictional, but based in fact) unfolding of her parents disastrous marriage before Ada arrives and takes over the story.
The rest of the book is about her upbringing by her unwavering mother, her education, her romances, her family life, and her work. The way the author takes us through Ada's entire life story (this novel is written as though Ada were writing her memoirs) reminded me of one of my all-time favorite novels The Signature of All Things - the way we get to see the development of the central character as years pass is extremely rewarding, even if the overall pace of both books is rather slow.
I always know I'm enjoying a book when I'm sad to think of finishing it and moving on to something else, and that was definitely the case here. Chiaverini's Ada is great company. It's far from a perfect book, though. There's way too strong of an emphasis placed on Ada's early life in terms of page count and honestly, a lot of it's uninteresting. There are only so many nurses/governesses I can read about Ada having without wishing I could press a fast forward button.
The early life section was so long, in fact, that I was halfway into the book when I realized we were only at the point of her "coming out" into society, leaving not a whole lot of space for her marriage, the birth and rearing of her children, her mathematical work, her supposed extramarital affairs, and so on and so forth. As you would expect, a lot of her adult life is sped up in the second half and it felt like we raced toward the conclusion.
The early chapters also revealed a weird choice made by the author: since she made this novel a mock memoir, she has Ada "remember" things from her past that she would have been far too young to remember. I don't care how brilliant a child is, they're not going to fully understand situations at two years old and they're certainly not going to remember them into their mid-30s. All the author would have needed to do to account for how Ada knew about things from her very early life is to explain that her mother told her. That way, we're not asked to believe that an ACTUAL INFANT would be aware that everyone in a room was talking about her or that she could sense her mother was happier after having left Lord Byron because her breastmilk tasted better? There are a small handful of weird passages like that at the start that put me off the book a little. I'm grateful I kept reading, but it had an effect on my rating, for sure.
Those weird moments, the lopsidedness of the focus on her early years and the go-speed-racer-go pace of the concluding chapters aside, this was a lovely interpretation of the life of Ada Lovelace.
Click here to hear more of my thoughts on this book over on my Booktube channel, abookolive!
The rest of the book is about her upbringing by her unwavering mother, her education, her romances, her family life, and her work. The way the author takes us through Ada's entire life story (this novel is written as though Ada were writing her memoirs) reminded me of one of my all-time favorite novels The Signature of All Things - the way we get to see the development of the central character as years pass is extremely rewarding, even if the overall pace of both books is rather slow.
I always know I'm enjoying a book when I'm sad to think of finishing it and moving on to something else, and that was definitely the case here. Chiaverini's Ada is great company. It's far from a perfect book, though. There's way too strong of an emphasis placed on Ada's early life in terms of page count and honestly, a lot of it's uninteresting. There are only so many nurses/governesses I can read about Ada having without wishing I could press a fast forward button.
The early life section was so long, in fact, that I was halfway into the book when I realized we were only at the point of her "coming out" into society, leaving not a whole lot of space for her marriage, the birth and rearing of her children, her mathematical work, her supposed extramarital affairs, and so on and so forth. As you would expect, a lot of her adult life is sped up in the second half and it felt like we raced toward the conclusion.
The early chapters also revealed a weird choice made by the author: since she made this novel a mock memoir, she has Ada "remember" things from her past that she would have been far too young to remember. I don't care how brilliant a child is, they're not going to fully understand situations at two years old and they're certainly not going to remember them into their mid-30s. All the author would have needed to do to account for how Ada knew about things from her very early life is to explain that her mother told her. That way, we're not asked to believe that an ACTUAL INFANT would be aware that everyone in a room was talking about her or that she could sense her mother was happier after having left Lord Byron because her breastmilk tasted better? There are a small handful of weird passages like that at the start that put me off the book a little. I'm grateful I kept reading, but it had an effect on my rating, for sure.
Those weird moments, the lopsidedness of the focus on her early years and the go-speed-racer-go pace of the concluding chapters aside, this was a lovely interpretation of the life of Ada Lovelace.
Click here to hear more of my thoughts on this book over on my Booktube channel, abookolive!
November 30, 2017
2.5 Stars. While I thought this was a very informative and well researched book about Ada Lovelace this at times was tedious to read. I didn't know much beforehand about her life except that she was the daughter of the famous poet Lord Byron who was considered a womanizer and who had a possible scandalous relationship with his half-sister. This was an insightful look into a young woman whose life begun in a custody battle after her parents became estranged and who suffered life under an overprotective mother who feared she would inherit the dreaded Byron constitution of depravity and over indulgence. As she grew up Ada could scarcely test her wings and fly because her mother quashed every notion she had whether it was friendship and of course, love. I felt for Ada because she was never given the chance to develop a relationship with her father except for reading his poems and hear about the notoriety of his life, it was a wonder that she went to become a mathematical genius in her own right being regarded as the first computer programmer.
Thank you to author Jennifer Chiaverini and NetGalley for providing a copy of this in exchange for my review.
Thank you to author Jennifer Chiaverini and NetGalley for providing a copy of this in exchange for my review.
November 23, 2019
2.5 stars
This is a historical novel based on the brief life of Ada Lovelace, daughter of Lord Byron and a mathematician of genius. It follows fairly closely the details of Lovelace’s life as it is known, but is rather selective about what is focussed on. There is a great emphasis on the relationships with her mother, who spends her whole time trying to ensure her daughter does not develop her father’s imaginative and poetic traits. The relationship is shown as often distant and adversarial. In fact there is a good deal of time spent on social and entertainment situations and too little on the more interesting aspects of her life.
Lovelace worked closely with Charles Babbage and Mary Somerville. Her contribution to the development of Babbage’s plans for his Difference Engine and Analytical Engine has been much debated, but here there is no real contribution to that debate. There is much more discussion from Lovelace about how much she would like to be assisting Babbage rather than discussion of their work. The novel is limited by the fact that it is narrated by Lovelace herself and by its limited discussion of Lovelace’s work. There is very little mention of Lovelace’s relationships with other men, particularly John Crosse, to whom she left the only relics she had of her father. There is only a fleeting mention of Lovelace’s gambling addiction and her attempts to use her mathematical skills to assist her gambling on the horses. Little is also made of her relationship with the other leading female mathematician of the age, Mary Somerville.
The first person narration does grate and the novel is over long for all the wrong reasons, the interesting aspects of her life were not prominent enough and there was too much uninteresting detail. Perhaps I would better have appreciated a decent biography. Mary Somerville was interesting and I think should be better known for her pioneering work. Lovelace herself is an interesting character and her work isn’t explored in enough detail here. Her refutation of the possibility of artificial intelligence was important enough for it to be examined and addressed by Alan Turing when he wrote about artificial intelligence.
An interesting subject let down by a less than satisfactory novel.
This is a historical novel based on the brief life of Ada Lovelace, daughter of Lord Byron and a mathematician of genius. It follows fairly closely the details of Lovelace’s life as it is known, but is rather selective about what is focussed on. There is a great emphasis on the relationships with her mother, who spends her whole time trying to ensure her daughter does not develop her father’s imaginative and poetic traits. The relationship is shown as often distant and adversarial. In fact there is a good deal of time spent on social and entertainment situations and too little on the more interesting aspects of her life.
Lovelace worked closely with Charles Babbage and Mary Somerville. Her contribution to the development of Babbage’s plans for his Difference Engine and Analytical Engine has been much debated, but here there is no real contribution to that debate. There is much more discussion from Lovelace about how much she would like to be assisting Babbage rather than discussion of their work. The novel is limited by the fact that it is narrated by Lovelace herself and by its limited discussion of Lovelace’s work. There is very little mention of Lovelace’s relationships with other men, particularly John Crosse, to whom she left the only relics she had of her father. There is only a fleeting mention of Lovelace’s gambling addiction and her attempts to use her mathematical skills to assist her gambling on the horses. Little is also made of her relationship with the other leading female mathematician of the age, Mary Somerville.
The first person narration does grate and the novel is over long for all the wrong reasons, the interesting aspects of her life were not prominent enough and there was too much uninteresting detail. Perhaps I would better have appreciated a decent biography. Mary Somerville was interesting and I think should be better known for her pioneering work. Lovelace herself is an interesting character and her work isn’t explored in enough detail here. Her refutation of the possibility of artificial intelligence was important enough for it to be examined and addressed by Alan Turing when he wrote about artificial intelligence.
An interesting subject let down by a less than satisfactory novel.
December 10, 2017
This was a good fictional account of Ada Lovelace's life. In the future I plan on reading more about her.
There is not much else to say because the story speaks for its self.
There is not much else to say because the story speaks for its self.
January 19, 2019
The chronological and developmental ages of Ada do not coincide AT ALL
January 20, 2018
DNF
That this book is a 'did-not-finish' makes me super sad. Jennifer Chaiverini has been one of my go-to authors for many years: she was one of the few 'mainstream' authors I could count on for a well-written novel (especially her historical portraits) that was clean. Unfortunately, with this novel, that is not the case.
To my clean-reading friends, you probably want to skip this one as it contains a graphic intimate scene between the main character and one of her tutors. That was the point where I said 'nope' and shut the book.
I will try another book by this author simply because this is the first 'miss' I've ever seen from her work (and I've read all of her novels!).
That this book is a 'did-not-finish' makes me super sad. Jennifer Chaiverini has been one of my go-to authors for many years: she was one of the few 'mainstream' authors I could count on for a well-written novel (especially her historical portraits) that was clean. Unfortunately, with this novel, that is not the case.
To my clean-reading friends, you probably want to skip this one as it contains a graphic intimate scene between the main character and one of her tutors. That was the point where I said 'nope' and shut the book.
I will try another book by this author simply because this is the first 'miss' I've ever seen from her work (and I've read all of her novels!).
December 22, 2017
couldn't do it. she talks about her as if she's 10 and in the next sentence says "And then I turned 2..." what? Talks about how she embroidered fancy things on table cloths ... "and then in my 4th birthday." huh? Way too tedious.
October 30, 2018
ENCHANTRESS OF NUMBERS
Written by Jennifer Chiaverini
(Narrated by Virginia Leishman)
2017; Dutton/Penguin (446 Pages)Â
(Audio length: 20 hours and 2 minutes)
Genre: fiction, historical fiction, Britain, history, science, math, biography, womenÂ
RATING: 3 STARS
I have to admit that I became more interested in Ada Lovelace due to her father, Byron. I enjoyed Byron's poetry and study him and his friends, Mary and Percy Shelley's work for school. He is a fascinating person in literature history. He also sounds like a huge jerk to people around him. And, the whole thing with his sister is definitely...odd. Then I heard about Ada and all her accomplishments with math and science blew me away. It was so cool that a woman from her class and time was able to get so far. I was so happy to see that Chiaverini was writing a book on her. Chiaverini has most written about American historical figures, especially in the Civil War era. I was really interested in reading this one.
Chiaverini is a good writer and she was able to make Lovelace's time period come alive. With the narrator's accent and reading of it I felt like I was there. Chiaverini is great at descriptions and makes her books come alive. However, in that same vain, she is also too detailed. There are moments when it feels like a fact drop. While the time and place comes alive the characters sometimes become neglected as people and driven more by descriptions. The plot and story lines sometimes get lost and moments get dull. I think Chiaverini's novels could be brilliant if there was a bit more editor input. This book did get me excited to learn more about Ada and Byron. It is hard to say if I recommend this novel.
***I received an eARC from NETGALLEY***
My Novelesque Blog
Written by Jennifer Chiaverini
(Narrated by Virginia Leishman)
2017; Dutton/Penguin (446 Pages)Â
(Audio length: 20 hours and 2 minutes)
Genre: fiction, historical fiction, Britain, history, science, math, biography, womenÂ
RATING: 3 STARS
I have to admit that I became more interested in Ada Lovelace due to her father, Byron. I enjoyed Byron's poetry and study him and his friends, Mary and Percy Shelley's work for school. He is a fascinating person in literature history. He also sounds like a huge jerk to people around him. And, the whole thing with his sister is definitely...odd. Then I heard about Ada and all her accomplishments with math and science blew me away. It was so cool that a woman from her class and time was able to get so far. I was so happy to see that Chiaverini was writing a book on her. Chiaverini has most written about American historical figures, especially in the Civil War era. I was really interested in reading this one.
Chiaverini is a good writer and she was able to make Lovelace's time period come alive. With the narrator's accent and reading of it I felt like I was there. Chiaverini is great at descriptions and makes her books come alive. However, in that same vain, she is also too detailed. There are moments when it feels like a fact drop. While the time and place comes alive the characters sometimes become neglected as people and driven more by descriptions. The plot and story lines sometimes get lost and moments get dull. I think Chiaverini's novels could be brilliant if there was a bit more editor input. This book did get me excited to learn more about Ada and Byron. It is hard to say if I recommend this novel.
***I received an eARC from NETGALLEY***
My Novelesque Blog
November 11, 2017
I knew Jennifer Chiaverini as the quilt novel author. She introduced me to the idea that quilts were signposts for the Underground Railroad in The Runaway Quilt which I loved. I knew that she'd been writing biographical novels of female historical figures, but I didn't sit up and take notice until it was Ada Lovelace in Enchantress of Numbers. I've always wanted to know more about her role in the development of the early precursors to computers. So I requested an ARC from Net Galley and was delighted when I was approved by the publisher. This is my review.
We can't really know about Ada's contribution to Charles Babbage's conceptualization of his proto-computers the Difference Engine and the Analytic Engine. This is a topic that is fodder for speculation for historical novelists like Chiaverini. I made the same argument about Einstein and his first wife in my review of The Other Einstein here. I feel that it's just as legitimate to claim that Ada made a significant contribution as to claim that she made none, and that it was all Babbage's idea. I believe that Chiaverini is persuasive about what she attributes to Ada Lovelace.
Ada's written notes are clearly attributable to her, and they show her to be a woman ahead of her time. The Enchantress of Numbers displays her context. She had influences, and sources of support which do not lessen her achievements. Isaac Newton is quoted as having said, "If I have seen further it is by standing on ye sholders of giants." Jennifer Chiaverini helps us to identify who Ada might have stood on. Yet every designer of a computer algorithm stands on Ada's shoulders because she created the very first such algorithm.
For my complete review see http://wwwbookbabe.blogspot.com/2017/...
We can't really know about Ada's contribution to Charles Babbage's conceptualization of his proto-computers the Difference Engine and the Analytic Engine. This is a topic that is fodder for speculation for historical novelists like Chiaverini. I made the same argument about Einstein and his first wife in my review of The Other Einstein here. I feel that it's just as legitimate to claim that Ada made a significant contribution as to claim that she made none, and that it was all Babbage's idea. I believe that Chiaverini is persuasive about what she attributes to Ada Lovelace.
Ada's written notes are clearly attributable to her, and they show her to be a woman ahead of her time. The Enchantress of Numbers displays her context. She had influences, and sources of support which do not lessen her achievements. Isaac Newton is quoted as having said, "If I have seen further it is by standing on ye sholders of giants." Jennifer Chiaverini helps us to identify who Ada might have stood on. Yet every designer of a computer algorithm stands on Ada's shoulders because she created the very first such algorithm.
For my complete review see http://wwwbookbabe.blogspot.com/2017/...
November 4, 2017
After reading about Ada Lovelace in The Colors of Madeleine Series by Jaclyn Moriarty, this book immediately caught my eye on the Edelweiss site. A big thanks to them and Penguin Publishing for the ARC of this forthcoming novel.
Chiaverini took great care in telling Ada's story beginning with the romance between her mother and Lord Byron, their calamitous marriage and estrangement and then continuing to tell Ada's story from birth to death. It is difficult to be sympathetic to Lady Byron through much of the book, but we get a very good understanding of Ada and how her parentage contributed to her title of "Enchantress of Numbers" which in that time was quite a feat for a woman. The context was also thoroughly done and we see the rise and fall of monarchs as well as Ada's friendship with historical figures like Charles Dickens.
This would make an excellent book group selection. There are so many issues that could be discussed including the fears Lady Byron had of Ada following her father's footsteps into madness; the accomplishments of women in a time when they had no such expectations, the machines Babbage was working on and their contribution to our modern computer age, etc.
Recommended!
Chiaverini took great care in telling Ada's story beginning with the romance between her mother and Lord Byron, their calamitous marriage and estrangement and then continuing to tell Ada's story from birth to death. It is difficult to be sympathetic to Lady Byron through much of the book, but we get a very good understanding of Ada and how her parentage contributed to her title of "Enchantress of Numbers" which in that time was quite a feat for a woman. The context was also thoroughly done and we see the rise and fall of monarchs as well as Ada's friendship with historical figures like Charles Dickens.
This would make an excellent book group selection. There are so many issues that could be discussed including the fears Lady Byron had of Ada following her father's footsteps into madness; the accomplishments of women in a time when they had no such expectations, the machines Babbage was working on and their contribution to our modern computer age, etc.
Recommended!
August 31, 2017
I enjoyed reading about Ada Lovelace's life, especially since the only thing I knew about her was that she is considered to be the first computer programmer.
This was the first book I've read by Chiaverini, and I found the writing style to be... well, lacking somewhat. I didn't feel as connected to the characters as I should have been; it seemed like Chiaverini was didn't want to stray too far from the facts of Ada's life, but in doing so these historical personages come off as rather flat characters. I wish the book had flushed out the relationship between Ada and her mother, as well as that of Ada and Mr. Babbage (about how their working relationship worked, about how the machine worked, etc.). Ada's involvement with the Analytical Engine is what she became known for, but I felt like the importance of it gets lost in the telling of the story.
Thank you to NetGalley for a free ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
This was the first book I've read by Chiaverini, and I found the writing style to be... well, lacking somewhat. I didn't feel as connected to the characters as I should have been; it seemed like Chiaverini was didn't want to stray too far from the facts of Ada's life, but in doing so these historical personages come off as rather flat characters. I wish the book had flushed out the relationship between Ada and her mother, as well as that of Ada and Mr. Babbage (about how their working relationship worked, about how the machine worked, etc.). Ada's involvement with the Analytical Engine is what she became known for, but I felt like the importance of it gets lost in the telling of the story.
Thank you to NetGalley for a free ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
October 2, 2019
If you have read any of this author’s books and liked them, then you will probably like this one. I’ve tried a few and for me it’s the same drawn-out style of writing (meaning if you skip a few pages, you won’t miss much).
Set in early 19th century England. Annabella Wentworth, young and naĂŻve, enters loveless marriage with Lord Byron, a flamboyant poet. The marriage is short lived, only a year. She leaves him after a few weeks after giving a birth to their daughter Ada.
Instead of nursing her daughter, Annabella spends her time at spas claiming fragile health. She leaves strict instructions for Ada’s nurse: “She shall play, but with suitable toys in well-regulated games. Blocks and such, for learning geometry. Balls, also for geometry and to study motion. (…) She must never be exposed to Lord Byron’s poetry (…) and absolutely no fairy stories.”
When Ada is 12 years old her mother takes them on a trip to the continental Europe. After experiencing different places, Ada becomes restless within the space of their isolated house. As she reminisces about her European trip, including tour of Mont Blanc, she thinks of herself as a bird flying over the mountains. And that’s when her first inspiration strikes her to create a machine to carry people above the mountains and seas. She starts studying birds, their wings, creates paper models. She dreams about a machine carrying letters and parcels. At the house she sets a Flying Room, where she plans her vehicle.
I thought this would be a moment when the story goes into her achievements, but no. It goes into bickering between her and her mom, into her resentment of her mom’s friends, who don’t like her and scrutinize her, “robed me of my contemplative solitude,” into her meeting different men - unfit husband candidates for her social status.
It seems as her achievements fill just a few pages of this 421 page book. Also, as Ada tells her own story, I didn’t care for all her explanations, including how she possibly could recall events from the time when she was just a baby – she learned about them later in age. This is pretty much undermining reader’s intelligence.
@FB: Best Historical Fiction
Set in early 19th century England. Annabella Wentworth, young and naĂŻve, enters loveless marriage with Lord Byron, a flamboyant poet. The marriage is short lived, only a year. She leaves him after a few weeks after giving a birth to their daughter Ada.
Instead of nursing her daughter, Annabella spends her time at spas claiming fragile health. She leaves strict instructions for Ada’s nurse: “She shall play, but with suitable toys in well-regulated games. Blocks and such, for learning geometry. Balls, also for geometry and to study motion. (…) She must never be exposed to Lord Byron’s poetry (…) and absolutely no fairy stories.”
When Ada is 12 years old her mother takes them on a trip to the continental Europe. After experiencing different places, Ada becomes restless within the space of their isolated house. As she reminisces about her European trip, including tour of Mont Blanc, she thinks of herself as a bird flying over the mountains. And that’s when her first inspiration strikes her to create a machine to carry people above the mountains and seas. She starts studying birds, their wings, creates paper models. She dreams about a machine carrying letters and parcels. At the house she sets a Flying Room, where she plans her vehicle.
I thought this would be a moment when the story goes into her achievements, but no. It goes into bickering between her and her mom, into her resentment of her mom’s friends, who don’t like her and scrutinize her, “robed me of my contemplative solitude,” into her meeting different men - unfit husband candidates for her social status.
It seems as her achievements fill just a few pages of this 421 page book. Also, as Ada tells her own story, I didn’t care for all her explanations, including how she possibly could recall events from the time when she was just a baby – she learned about them later in age. This is pretty much undermining reader’s intelligence.
@FB: Best Historical Fiction
January 16, 2020
Although I have an interest in Ada Lovelace, as she is commonly known, and Jennifer Chiaverini is by no means a bad writer, I found that I just couldn’t connect with this book as much as I had been hoping.
I had two main issues. The first was the choice of first-person narration. I find it to be generally limiting when it comes to historical fiction, because it can only convey the experiences and knowledge that the narrating character possesses. Events that they were not present for, which may add great drama to the story, are thereby omitted, or learned about later in summary from other characters who were there and it lacks the immediacy and intensity of the character living through it themselves. I’m not saying it’s impossible to write a good historical novel in first-person, but it generally speaking has limitations which can hamper a gripping plot. A couple of examples of how I felt this was detrimental here were when Charles Babbage has his crucial meeting with Robert Peel, a linchpin upon which so much is at stake. Ada learning about it later from acquaintances and by letter just doesn’t have the same impact. Also, aside from the prologue which is not in Ada’s voice and summarises the relationship between her mother and father, events early on just do not ring true. Ada describes events that occurred when she was a baby, claiming she has an eidetic memory – this is a bit of a stretch, something for which there is no evidence historically, but not so implausible that the author can’t get away with it – but not only this but she relates speaking in complete sentences at the time. Speaking in complete sentences and indeed using complex vocabulary, at just 1 year old? Sorry but no. My suspension of disbelief has snapped and been broken.
The second problem, I felt, was the pacing. A good 40% of the book covers Ada’s childhood, and I felt it was too much. So many chapters of her mother’s unusual discipline and a veritable revolving door of governesses! It was tedious. It seemed unnecessary because I got the point, that Ada’s upbringing was demanding and her mother obsessive and mean, after just a couple of chapters, and it seemed to unbalance the whole book. It is just my opinion, of course, but I would have liked to have seen far more page space devoted to Ada’s adult years, where she pursued her passionate interest in the Difference Engine and Analytical Engine. As her greatest interest and work came from it, I view it as the heart of any story about her, but the book didn’t go into as much detail as I had hoped, and there were far fewer chapters on this period of Ada’s life than I would have liked. I wish Chiaverini had cut Ada’s childhood to two or three chapters maximum, and devoted the rest to her work instead.
6 out of 10
Read
February 22, 2018Mrs. Chiaverini is one of my favorites authors. However, I've given her a prologue and four chapters to hook me and it's just not happening. I'm going to stop reading here, perhaps a friend will read it (love it) and encourage me to pick it up again in the future.
May 3, 2018
It is a very rare thing that I don't finish abook - but that almost happened with this title. It just seemed to drag on and on. I found the main character / narrator to be rather unlikable - a haughty, entitled (even for her time) woman who described herself "precocious" and claimed to remember being an infant. The endless and drawn out descriptions of her mathematical studies seemed to go on for pages without relief. Occasionally there would be spurts of interesting story telling, but generally, I just didn't enjoy this and found myself reading the first two sentences of several paragraphs just to finish more quickly.
I usually enjoy historical fiction - perhaps this delved too far into a solitary person's thoughts and started to feel too contrived to me. Or maybe I just wasn't in the mood for this pseudo-memoir at the moment. Either way, I cannot recommend it.
I usually enjoy historical fiction - perhaps this delved too far into a solitary person's thoughts and started to feel too contrived to me. Or maybe I just wasn't in the mood for this pseudo-memoir at the moment. Either way, I cannot recommend it.
November 27, 2017
Enchantress of Numbers by Jennifer Chiaverini is a historical fiction look into the life of Ada Byron (Lovelace). I admit to knowing very little about her and that's why I requested this book as an ARC
However, I just never connected to the character(s) and felt the book was overlong and drawn out. The style of narration through her childhood put me off. First seemingly from her mother's POV, but finishing up with 'me' being Ada. Ada's personality was unlikeable, as were the host of other people in this book. This wasn't a match for me at this time
Thanks to Penguin Random House First to Read for the copy in exchange for an honest review
However, I just never connected to the character(s) and felt the book was overlong and drawn out. The style of narration through her childhood put me off. First seemingly from her mother's POV, but finishing up with 'me' being Ada. Ada's personality was unlikeable, as were the host of other people in this book. This wasn't a match for me at this time
Thanks to Penguin Random House First to Read for the copy in exchange for an honest review
March 21, 2019
An enjoyable read about someone I knew very little about. While I thought the author spent a little too much time on Ada's childhood (the parade of nurses got a bit tedious), the novel became more interesting once Ada reached her teens and started coming into her own intellectually and mingling with London's elite. Since Ada's relationship with her mother was so central to the novel, though, I wish we could have seen the events from both women's perspectives.
December 2, 2017
***I received a digital advance copy of this through Penguin's First to Read program in exchange for my thoughts. It goes on sale Dec. 5.
For about two years I have been fascinated by whatever I can learn about Ada Lovelace and Charles Babbage. These two were closely connected in the development of what *could* have been the world's first computer...a hundred years ahead of time. Steam-powered. Wild, right?! I think so. Charles Babbage invented the machine--although he never completed the construction of it; Ada translated a paper about it and added so many of her own notes with calculations and algorithms that she is regarded by some as the first software programmer. They were an eccentric pair of friends, and I can't get enough of them.
Enter this book. This is the fictionalized, but pretty accurate, account of Ada's life.
It's fiction, but seems to exude careful attention to facts and history; so much so, that in many cases the dialogue was far too skimpy for my tastes. Because of this, the book seemed to ride a line between novel and memoir, not being strictly satisfying in either category. The exception to this is when Ada first sets eyes on Babbage's Difference Engine, and embarks on friendship with him. That scene is a delight to read, with a greater in-the-moment feel than the rest of the book.
The book is written in the first person; however, it starts in Ada's first year of life and proceeds with excruciating slowness. In my opinion, the first-person narrative is not suited to reminiscences of a baby and toddler. I was unable to suspend my disbelief and accept that she would have such detailed accounts of what those around her did, said, felt and thought. It was over the top.
What the book does well is provide a cohesive account of Ada's life, which I only knew the highlights of. I think it could have been even better if it had condensed the accounts of her young years and focused on her late teens and adult life, especially where the Difference Engine and the Analytical Engine were concerned. I found the descriptions of the Difference and Analytical Engines fascinating, and the author handled with a light touch Ada's perception of what they could mean for the future.
Content advisory: It gets PG-13 in one scene, where teenage Ada has a close encounter with her tutor whom she has fallen in love with. And because Ada's father was George Gordon, Lord Byron, there are a couple of adult themes that show up. If you know your Byron history they won't be shocking, and they're only presented as part of the family biography, not graphically shown.
For about two years I have been fascinated by whatever I can learn about Ada Lovelace and Charles Babbage. These two were closely connected in the development of what *could* have been the world's first computer...a hundred years ahead of time. Steam-powered. Wild, right?! I think so. Charles Babbage invented the machine--although he never completed the construction of it; Ada translated a paper about it and added so many of her own notes with calculations and algorithms that she is regarded by some as the first software programmer. They were an eccentric pair of friends, and I can't get enough of them.
Enter this book. This is the fictionalized, but pretty accurate, account of Ada's life.
It's fiction, but seems to exude careful attention to facts and history; so much so, that in many cases the dialogue was far too skimpy for my tastes. Because of this, the book seemed to ride a line between novel and memoir, not being strictly satisfying in either category. The exception to this is when Ada first sets eyes on Babbage's Difference Engine, and embarks on friendship with him. That scene is a delight to read, with a greater in-the-moment feel than the rest of the book.
The book is written in the first person; however, it starts in Ada's first year of life and proceeds with excruciating slowness. In my opinion, the first-person narrative is not suited to reminiscences of a baby and toddler. I was unable to suspend my disbelief and accept that she would have such detailed accounts of what those around her did, said, felt and thought. It was over the top.
What the book does well is provide a cohesive account of Ada's life, which I only knew the highlights of. I think it could have been even better if it had condensed the accounts of her young years and focused on her late teens and adult life, especially where the Difference Engine and the Analytical Engine were concerned. I found the descriptions of the Difference and Analytical Engines fascinating, and the author handled with a light touch Ada's perception of what they could mean for the future.
Content advisory: It gets PG-13 in one scene, where teenage Ada has a close encounter with her tutor whom she has fallen in love with. And because Ada's father was George Gordon, Lord Byron, there are a couple of adult themes that show up. If you know your Byron history they won't be shocking, and they're only presented as part of the family biography, not graphically shown.
December 2, 2017
Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Dutton for a digital galley of this novel.
I thoroughly enjoy learning about historical figures through fictionalized versions of their lives which contain the facts I want alongside the fictional additions which keep the narrative flowing. I particularly liked reading the second half of this book when the story of Ada Byron had finally moved on from her first nineteen years of life to her becoming Ada Byron King, Countess of Lovelace. I find it difficult to look kindly on a narrator who describes situations she remembers from when she was six months old. Yes, Ada was an interesting woman but having her remember her thoughts of comparing the sumptuousness of her home to the cathedral her mother was touring when Ada was less than a year old went just a little too far. The first nineteen years of Ada's life seems to have been an exercise in surviving the manipulation her mother engaged in to make sure there was no chance for the "bad Byron blood" Ada inherited from her father, Lord Byron, to once again taint the lives he touched. Ada was not to be allowed to engage in any thoughts or studies which might excite her imagination; no fairy tales, no ghost stories, no association with anyone not approved by her mother.
Once the story reaches the point of Ada being married, when she is removed from the stultifying presence of her mother, a new portrait of Ada commences and she more resembles an individual with a personality of her own. Because of her position in society Ada comes into contact with many of the greatest people of her time and this novel is filled with the scientific advancements and literary masterpieces we know of from her lifetime, December 10, 1815 to November 27, 1852. Most notable among these, and the inventions she is most connected with, were the two very early versions of a computer being built by Mr. Babbage, the Difference Engine and the Analytical Engine for which Ada created an algorithm based on the punched card system she had observed at a mill producing Jacquard fabric. This algorithm is the reason Ada Lovelace is considered to have been the first computer programmer.
My enjoyment of this story was hindered somewhat by the author's decision to spend so long pointing out how Ada Byron was formed by her mother and society into the person she eventually became. Still, I'm glad I read the information in the book and learned about the trials and victories of a woman who wanted so desperately to become a mathematician and how she endured to fulfil her dream.
I thoroughly enjoy learning about historical figures through fictionalized versions of their lives which contain the facts I want alongside the fictional additions which keep the narrative flowing. I particularly liked reading the second half of this book when the story of Ada Byron had finally moved on from her first nineteen years of life to her becoming Ada Byron King, Countess of Lovelace. I find it difficult to look kindly on a narrator who describes situations she remembers from when she was six months old. Yes, Ada was an interesting woman but having her remember her thoughts of comparing the sumptuousness of her home to the cathedral her mother was touring when Ada was less than a year old went just a little too far. The first nineteen years of Ada's life seems to have been an exercise in surviving the manipulation her mother engaged in to make sure there was no chance for the "bad Byron blood" Ada inherited from her father, Lord Byron, to once again taint the lives he touched. Ada was not to be allowed to engage in any thoughts or studies which might excite her imagination; no fairy tales, no ghost stories, no association with anyone not approved by her mother.
Once the story reaches the point of Ada being married, when she is removed from the stultifying presence of her mother, a new portrait of Ada commences and she more resembles an individual with a personality of her own. Because of her position in society Ada comes into contact with many of the greatest people of her time and this novel is filled with the scientific advancements and literary masterpieces we know of from her lifetime, December 10, 1815 to November 27, 1852. Most notable among these, and the inventions she is most connected with, were the two very early versions of a computer being built by Mr. Babbage, the Difference Engine and the Analytical Engine for which Ada created an algorithm based on the punched card system she had observed at a mill producing Jacquard fabric. This algorithm is the reason Ada Lovelace is considered to have been the first computer programmer.
My enjoyment of this story was hindered somewhat by the author's decision to spend so long pointing out how Ada Byron was formed by her mother and society into the person she eventually became. Still, I'm glad I read the information in the book and learned about the trials and victories of a woman who wanted so desperately to become a mathematician and how she endured to fulfil her dream.
January 9, 2018
Jennifer Chiaverini captures the essence of Regency England in her book Enchantress of Numbers: A Novel of Ada Lovelace. While I knew about Lord Bryon, his affair with Caroline Lamb, I knew nothing about his maligned wife and forgotten daughter. Annabella Milbanke falls madly in love with the mercurial poet Bryon, and despite misgivings at his odd behavior marries him. She discovers her husband's shocking secret, separating from him and moving home with her parents. Cool, calculating, and logical, Lady Bryon brings us Bron's sole offspring, Augusta Ada with the intention of stifling her erratic father's mad blood. In an austere and strict childhood, Ada, as she is known is brought up to use her brilliant analytical mind, smothering any chance of her father's wild imagination to thrive.
This was a fascinating picture of women like Mary Somerville and Ada Bryon Lovelace who loved to learn about math and science. Because of their gender, they were forced to work on the sidelines, rarely being acknowledged for their contributions to the field. Chiaverini paints a glorious picture of the age, the dawn of women emerging to engage with other scientists, bring fresh perspectives that would change the world. It was an unforgettable story about an unforgetable woman.
This was a fascinating picture of women like Mary Somerville and Ada Bryon Lovelace who loved to learn about math and science. Because of their gender, they were forced to work on the sidelines, rarely being acknowledged for their contributions to the field. Chiaverini paints a glorious picture of the age, the dawn of women emerging to engage with other scientists, bring fresh perspectives that would change the world. It was an unforgettable story about an unforgetable woman.
March 6, 2018
I knew nothing about Ada Lovelace prior to reading this book, and I very much enjoyed her fascinating history, which was fascinating largely due to her infamous father.
I do think the first person narrative had some drawbacks, namely an inability to fully address the complex mother-daughter relationship that was so central to the story. I really wanted to hear more from the mothers pov.
Some readers have lamented the lack of scientific details, but I was personally more interested in the aspects of the story related to Lord Byron and Ada's personal life. I felt like that was all very nicely balanced, personally, but numbers and scientific details hold little appeal to me.
I was a little surprised by one scene, given that this book was recommended to me as a clean read. And other than one paragraph, it really is clean, but other clean readers will want to be aware. I did find that one little rabbit trail to be unnecessary, especially given that it was based largely on conjecture.
I love the author 's ability to bring to life a more obscure historic character, giving them their day in the sun, so to speak. I look forward to reading more by this author.
I do think the first person narrative had some drawbacks, namely an inability to fully address the complex mother-daughter relationship that was so central to the story. I really wanted to hear more from the mothers pov.
Some readers have lamented the lack of scientific details, but I was personally more interested in the aspects of the story related to Lord Byron and Ada's personal life. I felt like that was all very nicely balanced, personally, but numbers and scientific details hold little appeal to me.
I was a little surprised by one scene, given that this book was recommended to me as a clean read. And other than one paragraph, it really is clean, but other clean readers will want to be aware. I did find that one little rabbit trail to be unnecessary, especially given that it was based largely on conjecture.
I love the author 's ability to bring to life a more obscure historic character, giving them their day in the sun, so to speak. I look forward to reading more by this author.
November 25, 2018
Another reviewer said, "I really wish that there had been more emphasis on science and less on governesses, coming out parties, and illegitimate relatives" and I cannot help but agree. The book was well written and kept my interest (kudos to the author for drawing on so many primary sources, e.g. memoirs diaries letters etc.) but actual science or math doesn't get much screen time, as it were. We are told that Ada studies mathematics etc. but we don't get to explore it or think about it or experience the joy of it *with* her (which is kind of odd since it's written in the first-person from her point of view). I did come away with a list of people I want to know more about, such as Mary Somerville, and things I want to read up on, like how Babbage's engines and Jacquard looms actually worked. But ultimately the novel fails to provide a clear/strong sense of why Ada Lovelace is considered so important.
November 14, 2017
This book was not for me, and I would have abandoned it early on had it not been a review copy from the publisher (via NetGalley). In the end, I'm glad I continued, as it was more interesting toward the end, but I found the first person narration of her childhood quite off-putting. Great subject matter, though.
June 21, 2022
I found this book fascinating - I knew nothing about the lady the book is about and found it very cool to learn about her, her interest in mathematics, and her contributions to that world including being credited with being one of the first if not the first computer programmer.
Listened to audiobook.
Listened to audiobook.
January 4, 2018
Library Hardcover
May 17, 2019
New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Chiaverini’s compelling historical novel unveils the private lives of Abraham and Mary Lincoln through the perspective of the First Lady’s most trusted confidante and friend, her dressmaker, Elizabeth Keckley.
In a life that spanned nearly a century and witnessed some of the most momentous events in American history, Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley was born a slave. A gifted seamstress, she earned her freedom by the skill of her needle, and won the friendship of First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln by her devotion.
A sweeping historical novel, Mrs. Lincoln’s Dressmaker illuminates the extraordinary relationship the two women shared, beginning in the hallowed halls of the White House during the trials of the Civil War and enduring almost, but not quite, to the end of Mrs. Lincoln’s days.New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Chiaverini’s compelling historical novel unveils the private lives of Abraham and Mary Lincoln through the perspective of the First Lady’s most trusted confidante and friend, her dressmaker, Elizabeth Keckley.
While the backdrop is strikingly vivid, Chiaverini’s domestic tale dawdles too often in the details of dress fittings and quilt piecings, leaving Elizabeth’s emotional terrain glimpsed but not traveled.
In a life that spanned nearly a century and witnessed some of the most momentous events in American history, Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley was born a slave. A gifted seamstress, she earned her freedom by the skill of her needle, and won the friendship of First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln by her devotion.
A sweeping historical novel, Mrs. Lincoln’s Dressmaker illuminates the extraordinary relationship the two women shared, beginning in the hallowed halls of the White House during the trials of the Civil War and enduring almost, but not quite, to the end of Mrs. Lincoln’s days.New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Chiaverini’s compelling historical novel unveils the private lives of Abraham and Mary Lincoln through the perspective of the First Lady’s most trusted confidante and friend, her dressmaker, Elizabeth Keckley.
While the backdrop is strikingly vivid, Chiaverini’s domestic tale dawdles too often in the details of dress fittings and quilt piecings, leaving Elizabeth’s emotional terrain glimpsed but not traveled.
December 1, 2017
Ada Lovelace, the daughter of the poet Lord Byron, looks back on her life especially her relationship with her mother and her love of mathematics. The prologue is a long recounting of the tumultuous courtship and brief marriage of Lord Byron and Anne Milbanke including Ada's. After that overlong prologue Chiaverini has her narrator Ada recount her childhood from the moment her mother left Lord Byron when she was seven weeks old. Ada recounting events she couldn't possibly remember and probably wouldn't be told about in detail considering how much strain there was with her relationship with her mother was jarring. At points she goes into detail about everything that went on around her and how knowledgeable about various academic subjects ,which provides the reader some insight until you look at the date stamp at the beginning of each chapter and realize that she could not be more than two years old when these events occurred. Ada's unbelievable precociousness makes the first quarter of the book hard to get through. It doesn't get much easier to read as Ada gets older because every sentence is infused with how unfair her mother treats her and how she holds her back. This book covers almost all of Ada's life, yet it does not seem like she really grows much as a character as she gets older. The same could be said about her mother who comes across horribly, although Ada does not come out much better. Chiaverini's specialty is historical fiction which fleshes out the known facts of real people but they turn out to be more caricatures than real people. The book is at its strongest when Ada describes her mathematical and scientific passions, especially her work with Charles Babbage's Difference and Analytical Engines but that's something you could read about in Ada Lovelace's biographies and does not justify a fictional account of her life which really adds nothing but angst in her narrative. This book is mainly for those who like historical family melodramas, although outside of the prologue there really isn't much drama besides the tone of Ada's narration and that just make her an unlikable protagonist more than anything else. For those who want to learn more about Ada's place in computer science history you are better off sticking with the nonfiction works covering that very subject.
December 12, 2017
History has forgotten so many women, and author Jennifer Chiaverini brings them back to life. In her newest work of historical fiction she presents the life of Ada Byron King, daughter of the poet Byron, a woman now considered the mother of computer coding.
ENCHANTRESS OF NUMBERS is well researched, and the nuggets of information that pop up in the narrative are never intrusive. Ms. Chiaverini paints a subtle picture of life at the end of the Georgian Era when Ada, daughter of a peer, was being raised by a mother who wished to create a rational, non-imaginative child.
Readers might be a bit skeptical about the early chapters, where Ada relates her infancy as if she was recalling incidents, but read on and the clunky opening fades away as the heart of the story is revealed. Through a difficult and most un-ordinary childhood, a woman with a penchant for complex mathematics arises, and much of the middle section revolves around her efforts to pursue advanced studies while the world expects her to take her rightful place as wife and mother.
A woman's mind was considered a delicate vessel in those days, and too much study was thought to be physically debilitating. It is just one of many issues that Ada had to beat back with guile and clever turns of phrases to reach her goals.
Ada struggles, she perseveres, and in the end she trimphs, although you might have a feeling that her marriage was not so happy as the author depicts it. This is fiction, however, and Ada faces more than enough difficulties to drive the narrative to a positive conclusion. The opening chapters that cover her mother's miserable union with Lord Byron are more than enough dysfunction for one book.
You will most likely have an urge to study Byron's poetry after reading ENCHANTRESS OF NUMBERS, to see Ada through her father's eyes and gain a little insight into his view of his failed marriage and the mother of his only legitimate child. The novel focuses largely on Ada's mother's images, and her determination to keep Ada from every becoming like her father.
Fans of historical fiction will enjoy this one.
ENCHANTRESS OF NUMBERS is well researched, and the nuggets of information that pop up in the narrative are never intrusive. Ms. Chiaverini paints a subtle picture of life at the end of the Georgian Era when Ada, daughter of a peer, was being raised by a mother who wished to create a rational, non-imaginative child.
Readers might be a bit skeptical about the early chapters, where Ada relates her infancy as if she was recalling incidents, but read on and the clunky opening fades away as the heart of the story is revealed. Through a difficult and most un-ordinary childhood, a woman with a penchant for complex mathematics arises, and much of the middle section revolves around her efforts to pursue advanced studies while the world expects her to take her rightful place as wife and mother.
A woman's mind was considered a delicate vessel in those days, and too much study was thought to be physically debilitating. It is just one of many issues that Ada had to beat back with guile and clever turns of phrases to reach her goals.
Ada struggles, she perseveres, and in the end she trimphs, although you might have a feeling that her marriage was not so happy as the author depicts it. This is fiction, however, and Ada faces more than enough difficulties to drive the narrative to a positive conclusion. The opening chapters that cover her mother's miserable union with Lord Byron are more than enough dysfunction for one book.
You will most likely have an urge to study Byron's poetry after reading ENCHANTRESS OF NUMBERS, to see Ada through her father's eyes and gain a little insight into his view of his failed marriage and the mother of his only legitimate child. The novel focuses largely on Ada's mother's images, and her determination to keep Ada from every becoming like her father.
Fans of historical fiction will enjoy this one.
November 17, 2017
And when thou would solace gather
when our child’s first accents flow,
Wilt thou teach her to say “Father!”
Though his care she must fogo?
These are the words of the most infamous of the Romantic poets, Lord Byron. They refer to his daughter, Ada Lovelace, who is the heroine of Jennifer Chiaverini’s latest historical fiction novel, Enchantress of Numbers. I was thrilled when I heard that Chiaverini had a new book coming out, as she is one of my favorite authors. Once again, she delivers historical fiction with impeccably researched detail while writing the story of the life of mathematical genius, Ada Lovelace.
Ada Lovelace was a pioneer in computing and had a significant impact on the development of the first computing machines. Her story is seldom heard and Chiaverini brings it to life in a way that makes the reader admire and respect her accomplishments. We see here again the trend of focusing on little-known female accomplishments in history, which I love! The novel takes us through the journey of Ada’s difficult upbringing and the obstacles she faced being a female scientist. However, by overcoming these and many other trials, Ada Lovelace helps shape the future of the modern day computer.
I was fascinated by the story of Ada Lovelace! The question I always ask myself after reading a book is “What did I learn, or what did it inspire me to do?” With this book, I not only learned about a new heroine in history, but I was also inspired to read some of Byron’s poetry. I highly recommend this book, which comes out December 5, 2017. You can preorder it here: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/bo...
Also, check out Jennifer Chiavarini’s website for more information on her other books – they are all fantastic! ​jenniferchiaverini.com/books/
when our child’s first accents flow,
Wilt thou teach her to say “Father!”
Though his care she must fogo?
These are the words of the most infamous of the Romantic poets, Lord Byron. They refer to his daughter, Ada Lovelace, who is the heroine of Jennifer Chiaverini’s latest historical fiction novel, Enchantress of Numbers. I was thrilled when I heard that Chiaverini had a new book coming out, as she is one of my favorite authors. Once again, she delivers historical fiction with impeccably researched detail while writing the story of the life of mathematical genius, Ada Lovelace.
Ada Lovelace was a pioneer in computing and had a significant impact on the development of the first computing machines. Her story is seldom heard and Chiaverini brings it to life in a way that makes the reader admire and respect her accomplishments. We see here again the trend of focusing on little-known female accomplishments in history, which I love! The novel takes us through the journey of Ada’s difficult upbringing and the obstacles she faced being a female scientist. However, by overcoming these and many other trials, Ada Lovelace helps shape the future of the modern day computer.
I was fascinated by the story of Ada Lovelace! The question I always ask myself after reading a book is “What did I learn, or what did it inspire me to do?” With this book, I not only learned about a new heroine in history, but I was also inspired to read some of Byron’s poetry. I highly recommend this book, which comes out December 5, 2017. You can preorder it here: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/bo...
Also, check out Jennifer Chiavarini’s website for more information on her other books – they are all fantastic! ​jenniferchiaverini.com/books/
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